The ruffian of Mr Scott
(Marmion) has a mind of this nature; he has no shame or remorse, but
the corrosion of hopeless want, the wasting of unabating disease,
and the gloom of unvaried solitude, will have their effect on every
nature and the harder that nature is, and the longer time required
to work upon it, so much the more strong and indelible is the
impression. This is all the reason I am able to give, why a man of
feeling so dull should yet become insane, and why the visions of his
distempered brain should be of so horrible a nature.
{14} That a Letter on Prisons should follow the narratives of such
characters as Keene and Grimes is unfortunate, but not to be easily
avoided. I confess it is not pleasant to be detained so long by
subiects so repulsive to the feelings of many as the sufferings of
mankind; but, though I assuredly would have altered this
arrangement, had I been able to have done it by substituting a
better, yet am I not of opinion that my verses, or, indeed, the
verses of any other person,
can so represent the evils and distresses of life as to make any
material impression on the mind, and much less any of injurious
nature.
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